Page 3 of The Book of Irish Secrets (Magnolia Manor #5)
TWO
Finola had been right. Hugh had replied that he agreed to the plan of letting the house as selling it might be bad as the market was not great at the moment.
So everything was in place when they put the house on the Airbnb website.
They didn’t have to wait long for a response as the house was in a great location and near the Luas, the Dublin tram that went into the city centre.
Finola was delighted to see the house in such demand.
‘Three tenants already, one after the other next month,’ she reported with shining eyes to Claire when she came home from a shopping trip. ‘This is going very well.’
‘Brilliant,’ Claire said. ‘Then I can leave with everything in place and you in charge. I can’t thank you enough, Finola.’
‘Ah, shucks,’ Finola said. ‘It’s not a huge chore. It’s fun, actually. And I can do a lot of the work during my day at the library. Then there’ll be the guests to chat with at home. It’ll make my life a lot more exciting. So you can go off to Kerry and not worry about a thing.’
‘That makes me very happy,’ Claire said and went to pack the last bag she was bringing with her to Kerry.
She was excited at the prospect and now that she had a little bit of an income from the lettings and the redundancy money she got from the insurance company, she didn’t have to rush into any kind of employment but could take her time and just enjoy getting to know the place where her family had come from and maybe chat to people who might know the Fleurys.
She had booked a room for a week at a B in fact, she was glad it was all over and she could start afresh.
‘What?’ she asked as Finola kept talking.
‘I said I’ll text you the contact details and you can send her your CV and then perhaps add a letter telling her how much you love her Facebook page and what an amazing woman she is,’ Finola insisted.
‘Also, that you would work hard and be her right-hand woman and are ready take the pressure off her when the going gets tough.’ She drew breath and laughed.
‘Okay, so I’m being a little pushy but I think this would be perfect for you.
Because…’ Finola paused. ‘There is another angle to this job.’
‘Another angle?’ Claire sat up. ‘What is that, then?’
‘Wait for it… Karina Flavin caters for all the weddings at Magnolia Manor. I realised this when I looked at her photos.’
It took a moment for this latest fact to sink in. But then Claire saw the significance of it. ‘Oh, wow. Finola, you are a genius. This could be my chance to get to know the Kerry Fleurys without them knowing me, if you see what I mean.’
‘Of course,’ Finola exclaimed. ‘Why do you think I was so excited to see that ad?’
‘It’ll be perfect,’ Claire said as if to herself. ‘If I get the job, that is.’
‘Of course you will,’ Finola reassured her. ‘You just have to be presentable and have the very best computer skills and be the hardest-working woman she has ever met. I’ll email you the link to the ad and then you can take it from there. I suppose you have your CV in a file on your computer?’
‘Yup,’ Claire said, her excitement mounting.
‘I’ll send that off when I’ve seen the ad.
And then I just have to write a truly compelling covering letter.
Easy peasy, if I was good with words.’ Claire suddenly felt a dart of fear.
She wasn’t good at job applications; that’s why she had been stuck in the same boring job for years.
She had applied for other jobs and then been turned down, often before she had even been called to an interview.
And if she did manage to get to talk to anyone, she was invariably so nervous she couldn’t answer any of the questions sensibly.
‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ she said to Finola.
‘You know how bad I am at applying for any kind of job.’
‘I’ll write the letter for you,’ Finola offered. ‘I think I can string a few words together in a compelling way. I’ll email it to you in about an hour.’
‘You’re a star, Finola,’ Claire said. ‘The best friend I ever had.’
‘And you’re mine,’ Finola said. ‘But enough blather. I have to write that covering letter. Talk soon. Bye for now and… break a leg.’ Finola hung up.
Stunned, Claire sat in the car park for a long time, thinking about what Finola had told her.
Karina Flavin had thousands of followers on Facebook and Claire had looked at her page from time to time, admiring the photos.
She had known Karina lived somewhere in Kerry, but not the exact location.
Finola admired her and often cooked from the recipes Karina posted on her page.
Claire hadn’t known that Karina Flavin had a small but thriving catering business and also catered for the weddings at Magnolia Manor.
That seemed a big bonus in this scenario.
The very idea of working for Karina Flavin made Claire’s head spin.
Could she do it? Well, she would try her best to get that job and then work as hard as was required, even if Karina proved to be a demanding boss, which she probably was.
She had no idea what this woman was like in real life but the position as her assistant could provide a foot in the door of Magnolia Manor.
The first step was to get that job, if it was even possible.
Claire suddenly missed Finola and wondered how she would manage without her best friend, who had been her rock and mentor and confidant all rolled into one. Now she felt suddenly all alone.
It IS possible , she thought, starting the car.
I WILL get that job, even if I have to tell a pack of lies.
It’s my ticket to Magnolia Manor and my chance to find out more about my family.
It’s meant to be, I know it is. Feeling a little more confident, Claire left the car park and made her way down the road to the southwest and very exciting, if nerve-wracking, times ahead.